Ted Cruz is, for better or worse, a fixture of Texas politics. And so what he says about Matthew McConaughey’s potential attempt to unseat governor Greg Abbott is certainly of note ahead of rumblings that the actor actually wants to run for office.
Polls say that McConaughey would make a good opponent for the current Texas governor, even if no one seems to know exactly what the actor stands for or would advocate while in office. Which perhaps why Cruz isn’t exactly a fan of a potential election with McConaughey in the mix.
According to Forbes, Cruz spoke in a radio interview on the Hugh Hewit Show, Cruz called himself a “big fan” and “close friend” of Abbott but said he knows McConaughey and called him , 51, personally “very charming, “affable” and “good-looking.” That would make him a “formidable” candidate, which is why he’d prefer he doesn’t mess with Texas politics.
per Business Insider:
“I think he would undoubtedly be formidable,” Cruz said of McConaughey, according to Forbes.
Asked how the actor would fare in the race against Abbott, Cruz said: “I like Matthew personally. I know him a little bit. Not well, but I’ve spent a little bit of time with him and he’s a very charming, very affable guy,” Forbes reported.
“I hope Matthew decides not to run,” he added, according to The Hill.
In May, there was a report that McConaughey was apparently “making calls” about a potential run and lining up donors. So there’s certainly some smoke here, and now we have an established Republican saying he’d prefer the actor not enter the space and potentially unseat another established Republican. Time will tell if there’s anything for Cruz to actually worry about with the Austin resident, but he certainly has made his stance known here.
[via Forbes, Business Insider]